Windmill Lane - where U2 recorded their early albums - has been demolished

Residential, office and retail units will now be developed at the site.

Updated at 4pm

WINDMILL LANE HAS been demolished. However, some parts of the graffiti walls have been saved.

The Windmill Lane studios are iconic thanks to a host of musicians who recorded there going back to the 1970s.

Van Morrisson, The Rolling Stones and Sinead O’Connor are among the famous acts but the studios were best known for recordings carried out by U2, especially the Joshua Tree album.

The end of an era... Windmill Lane is demolished! pic.twitter.com/9KcAdVjOHp
— Ciara O'Callaghan (@OCallaghanCiara) April 6, 2015

Ciara O'Callaghan / Twitter

The site was bought by Hibernia REIT in May of last year and it now plans to develop residential, office and retail units.

The demolition started in late February and has been ongoing since then.

The CEO of WK Nowlan REIT Management, Kevin Nowlan, said the developers are aware of the site’s history and plan to “take that into account”.

Over the years fans have visited the site and used graffiti to pay tribute to the bands. It’s understood that part of the graffiti walls will be kept in storage until it is decided where they should be put.

00010399 Eamonn Farrell Part of the wall of graffiti dedicated to U2 outside Windmill Lane. Eamonn Farrell

Hibernia REIT says it is considering the following options:

Recreating the wall in the atrium of the new Windmill Lane building as a testimony to the building’s past
Offering the wall to Dublin City Council, the band or any other interested party for reconstruction or reuse in an alternative setting
Giving the wall to a charity so that they can auction pieces of it to U2 fans around the world

00010400 Eamonn Farrell Italian backpackers add their messages to the wall of graffiti dedicated to U2 in 1996. Eamonn Farrell

The studio itself was not destroyed over the weekend as it was moved to Ringsend some time ago.

90327669 Laura Hutton Ireland's most famous studio, Windmill Lane Studios in Ringsend Dublin. Laura Hutton

Many people have been expressing their sadness and shock online:

@OCallaghanCiara @Donal_OKeeffe can't believe it's not a protected building given all the history and my first editing job was there :-(
— Helen Wickham (@HM_Wickham) April 6, 2015

Helen Wickham / Twitter

@OCallaghanCiara shocked it really happened #U2 #dissapointed
— Conor Gibney 🇪🇺 (@ConorGibney) April 7, 2015

Conor Gibney / Twitter

@DocLina @OCallaghanCiara @BrownBagFilms oh I feel sad looking at this! #windmilllane
— T (@mammymarvel) April 6, 2015

T / Twitter

Read: €17.75 million for Dublin docklands site adjoining old U2 studio>

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